Related Content

Latest News

MIKE GANTER, QMI Agency

Oct 29, 2010

, Last Updated: 10:17 PM ET

Chris Bosh apparently still cares what you think of him.

The Raptors former franchise player and his agent contacted the FAN 590 sports station late Thursday night looking to right what he believes was a misinterpretation of comments he made Tuesday in Boston.

Those comments, reported by the Toronto Sun's Rob Longely, created further backlash for the one-time beloved Raptor.

Bosh is now saying that when he made the comment, "I mean, really it's all about being on TV at the end of the day. Seriously, a guy can average (20 points and 10 rebounds) and nobody cares. If you don't see it, it doesn't really happen," he wasn't talking about the reason he left Toronto.

"It wasn't in the context of why I made my decision," Bosh told the Fan's Doug Farraway referring to those comments. "It was (about) the perceptions of players and how more popular players are considered better players (because they're on TV a lot).

"At no time did I refer to that as my quote/unquote bottom line or the reason I made the decision I made," Bosh said.

The fact that Bosh even bothered to try to set the record straight, as he put it, is surprising.

Based on his departure, we were of the opinion that Bosh had put Toronto squarely behind him.

He is now part of the big three in Miami where he is feted like royalty in the belief that he and teammates Dwyane Wade and LeBron James will deliver an NBA championship to the city.

Still, Bosh finds himself defending himself to a fan base that is no longer his own.

In fact, had Bosh managed his exit in a better manner, very little of the ill will he is facing these days in Toronto would even be around.

Even in the best possible circumstances, Bosh's departure from Toronto would have been viewed as abandonment by a certain segment of the fan base. That goes without saying.

But the problems for Bosh multiplied when he started teasing the Toronto fans with that ill-advised tweet early in the process: "Should I stay or should I go?"

That was the start of the ill will and it only got worse from there.

It didn't have to be that way. Franchise-type athletes in Toronto who have left have shown it is possible to do so and remain on good terms with the bulk of the fan base. From Mats Sundin to Roy Halladay, the precedent had been set.

Why Bosh did what he did is the bigger question.

By athlete standards, Bosh is among the sharper professionals you are likely to encounter.

But based on the way he handled this departure, no one would really know it.